(Originally published 1979, Paperback edition 741 pages)
Arguably, Theodore Roosevelt was our nation's most dynamic President. Mark Twain
thought the guy was insane. Rudyard Kipling, the author of "The Jungle Book,"
said after spending some time with Teddy, "Must be President some day. A man you
can't cajole, can't frighten, can't buy." One thing is certain, there weren't
many who could be indifferent about the bull moose of a guy. Even before he
became our 26th President, the brilliant, pugnacious, quirky, priggish and the
Alpha of type-A personalities had an extremely colorful life. The following
description I copied from Wikipedia: "The theory describes a Type A individual
as ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status conscious, can be sensitive, care
for other people, are truthful, impatient, always try to help others, take on
more than they can handle, want other people to get to the point, proactive, and
obsessed with time management. People with Type A personalities are often
high-achieving "workaholics" who multi-task, push themselves with deadlines, and
hate both delays and ambivalence." That's Theodore Roosevelt to a
tee.
The first book of this three-volume biography covers from Mr. Roosevelt's birth (1858) until he becomes President due to the assassination of William McKinley (1901). No matter your political persuasion, you'll find plenty of stuff in these pages to admire and hate about the man. You'll also be exposed to major powerbrokers at a time when politics was overrun by graft, the "spoils system", and the merging of corporations with politics that makes our present-day shenanigans look like a Teletubbies' episode.
Mr. Morris does an outstanding job describing the events that shaped Mr. Roosevelt into the outsized character he was. I fell in love with this book in my early twenties back in the early 1980s and knew I would read it again at some future date once Mr. Morris completed the other two volumes. I didn't, however, realize I was going to have to wait for three more decades before he completed them. It was well worth the wait. Mr. Morris is one of those rare talents who is able to make history come alive as if you are there. This first volume is truly a work of art and deserves all its awards and praise. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is one of my favorite biographies.
The first book of this three-volume biography covers from Mr. Roosevelt's birth (1858) until he becomes President due to the assassination of William McKinley (1901). No matter your political persuasion, you'll find plenty of stuff in these pages to admire and hate about the man. You'll also be exposed to major powerbrokers at a time when politics was overrun by graft, the "spoils system", and the merging of corporations with politics that makes our present-day shenanigans look like a Teletubbies' episode.
Mr. Morris does an outstanding job describing the events that shaped Mr. Roosevelt into the outsized character he was. I fell in love with this book in my early twenties back in the early 1980s and knew I would read it again at some future date once Mr. Morris completed the other two volumes. I didn't, however, realize I was going to have to wait for three more decades before he completed them. It was well worth the wait. Mr. Morris is one of those rare talents who is able to make history come alive as if you are there. This first volume is truly a work of art and deserves all its awards and praise. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is one of my favorite biographies.
(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #313)
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